MCRN Donnager MOC from The Expanse

[LegoDog0126]

The LDSS Nauvoo / OPAS Behemoth may be the largest ship ever built, and the Razorback may be one of the fastest, but in my opinion, in all three seasons of The Expanse, no ship has matched the impressiveness and awe-inspiring nature of the MCRN Donnager. This is a model of that ship from SyFy's (now Amazon's) tv show, The Expanse, which is based off of James S.A. Corey's novel series, also called The Expanse.

As far as ships go in The Expanse, of course I love the trusty workhorse that is the Rocinante, but in the running for my favorite ships of the expanse, I think it would be safe to say that the Donnager comes in as a close second, despite the short amount of screen time that she got.

Many ships from The Expanse have relatively simplistic designs, mostly just some polygon extrueded into a prism, and then detailed with greeblies, but the Donnager stood out to me, because although the main body is just an extruded square, it has much more added on to that than most other ships, such as that large engine pods on the rear corners, the protrusions on the front, and the bases for the rail guns which raise them off from the sides. And, while there are also other ships which have more complex shapes, such as the UNN's Truman class dreadnoughts like the Agatha King, unlike those other ships, the design of the Donnager managed to add complexity while maintaining its sleek, modern look.

I designed this model over the course of a week, mainly using the concept art and diagrams of the Donnager released by the show, but also looking occasionally at stills from the beginning of season 1 where the Donnager appeared. The model is relatively large, measuring about 2 feet (~60 cm) in length or height depending on how you look at it, and about 8.5 inches (~21 cm) square. 

Here are the renders of the model (yes, I know the background is earth, but I couldn't find a skybox texture with high enough resolution of mars):

Donnager final render 1 small by Ethan Brossard, on Flickr

Donnager final render 2 small by Ethan Brossard, on Flickr

Donnager final render 3 small by Ethan Brossard, on Flickr

Donnager final render 4 small by Ethan Brossard, on Flickr

Donnager views small by Ethan Brossard, on Flickr

here's my favorite image, a rendering of the Donnager battling the stealth ships as we saw in the beginning of season 1:

Donnager battle 1000 samples with lense flare small by Ethan Brossard, on Flickr

For a 360 degree view of the model, here is an animation I created of it:

 

 

If you wish to get an even closer view of the model, you can download the ldraw .ldr model file for it. I'm sorry to say I can't offer it as a .lxf file for Lego Digital Designer, as that program is missing pieces I used in the model. If you are used to LDD, I would suggest downloading the stud.io program from bricklink and importing the .ldr file into that, stud.io is the most LDD like design program I have come across, and it does have all the newer pieces. Here is that .ldr file:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11l53QRMsO-Xkb5s2gufz0Lkp9DjzS_Zb/view?usp=sharing

And finally, if you want to take a look at the full resolution renders, here they are, including a 4k render of the battle scene:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1U6FX0VDxWOzi5W_oIjNzSxA3ZoHXGznc?usp=sharing

If you have any feedback for me, please share it! I welcome all criticism, but try to keep it constructive!

[Basiliscus]

The Expanse was an excellent sci-fi show, I really enjoyed it. Your rendition of the MCRN Donnager is amazing, in particular I love the shot of it fighting the stealth ships. I'd love to see any other ships from the show you fancy building.

[Hollander]

Very impressive creation. I am not familiar with The Expanse but its a nice looking ship, no doubt about it. I also find it quite neat you did this in only a week, a build of this size would take me two times that!